1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a backlight assembly and a liquid crystal display device including the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a backlight assembly and a liquid crystal display device including the backlight assembly, where the liquid crystal display device is slim, lightweight, and requires low manufacturing costs because the device integrates a bottom chassis and a lamp cover.
2. Discussion of the Background
Liquid crystal display (“LCD”) devices have increasingly been used in a broad range of applications because LCDs are lightweight, compact, and require low power consumption. An LCD device includes an LCD module and a driving circuit for driving the LCD module.
The LCD module includes an LCD panel including liquid crystal cells arranged in a matrix format between two transparent substrates, and a backlight assembly which emits light to the LCD panel.
The backlight assembly includes a lamp for emitting light to the LCD panel, a lamp housing for covering the lamp, a light guide plate for guiding incident light from the lamp toward the LCD panel, a reflection sheet located on the inner surface of the light guide plate, and a plurality of optical sheets stacked on the light guide plate.
Although there are various types of backlight assemblies, a backlight assembly including a lamp cover for seating the lamp is commonly used. However, stacking the lamp cover on the backlight assembly increases the thickness of the LCD device. This structure increases the LCD device's manufacturing costs because the LCD device includes the lamp cover for preventing light emitted from the lamp from proceeding thereunder and a reflection material coated on the lamp cover for guiding the light toward the light guide plate.